The role of Central Asia has been upgraded from the point of view of both security and the economy. For this reason, it would be important that the European Union should pay greater attention to the region, said Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó at the event that was held in Budapest to mark the day of Turkic unity and cooperation. The Foreign Minister of Kyrgyzstan, Ruslan Kazakbaev also participated in the event and made remarks.
Péter Szijjártó underlined that Hungary has been a Christian state for more than a thousand years. We are proud of our traditions, heritage and religion, as well as of the fact that during our history we were in close contact with Eastern cultures. “The past few years have clearly proved that only those nations can be strong that are proud of their national identities, and resist the pressure to abandon their values, heritage and history,” he said.
Péter Szijjártó pointed out that although many states of the Turkic Council lie geographically far away from Hungary, “extremely close friendly, I can often say, brotherly cooperation has materialized that can be felt already in everyday life.” An example of that is the fact that in the course of ten years the volume of trade with these countries has doubled and last year it exceeded USD4billion. The Foreign Minister said that the Hungarian Eximbank has opened a credit line of more than half a billion US dollars, and our Government supports the establishing of a Turkic Investment Fund.
Péter Szijjártó underlined that the long-term guarantee of good cooperation are personal contacts. In this respect, it is significant that this year already 870 scholarships are offered by Hungarian universities to students from the countries of the Turkic Council. About 5.000 applications have already been received. Despite the heavy oversubscription, 150 students from Kyrgyzstan will arrive in Hungary with a scholarship.
During the commemorative event organized by the Representation Office of the Turkic Council in Budapest and held in the Ybl Villa, Péter Szijjártó pointed out that in the wake of the failure of the international intervention in Afghanistan, the security of Central Asia had never had such significance for the security of the whole world. Despite this, up to the present day certain European leaders continue to make irresponsible statements on a regular basis. The Minister warned that these might trigger a wave of migration that could be more massive than the one in 2015. He added: the opinion of the states in the region must not be ignored, since “it is their countries that are at stake in the first place”. And their position is that the problems that have emerged in Afghanistan must be tackled within Afghanistan.
Among other things, Péter Szijjártó was also talking about the rapid growth of the Central Asian economies. It is important that the Hungarian companies should be able to benefit from that. Thanks to the good relations arising from the Eastern Strategy, there is a good chance to achieve that. This year the volume of trade between Hungary and Kyrgyzstan has expanded by 62 percent, and the market share of the flagship of the Hungarian presence in Kyrgyzstan – Richter Gedeon Public Limited Company – has been rising continuously. Furthermore, next week the agreement on establishing the Kyrgyz–Hungarian Fund with USD16 million will enter into force, and in such a way the investments of the Hungarian companies will be supported.
“We, Hungarians possess, perhaps, greater understanding toward Central Asia than any other European country. For this reason, we are more than willing to play the role of a bridge. We would also like the EU to pay greater attention to the region,” said Minister Szijjártó. He emphasized that in 2019 Hungary opened an embassy in Kyrgyzstan, and it is already performing the visa representation of six EU member countries, and further countries have indicated their interest.
After the commemorative event the two Foreign Ministers opened the Embassy of Kyrgyzstan in Budapest. At the opening Péter Szijjártó stressed there are no unresolved political questions between Hungary and Kyrgyzstan, and by the mutual opening of the embassies the opportunity for personal contacts is also given.
